Jakarta: Indonesia will restrict access to social media platforms for children under 16, its communications and digital ministry mentioned on Friday, making it the newest nation to set up on-line guardrails to scale back the dangers of habit and cyberbullying.
Various governments have imposed curbs on social media for children amid mounting issues over the impression that social media is having on the security and psychological well being of minors.
Australia launched a ban on social media for under-16s in December, and Spain additionally mentioned final month that it could ban access to social media for minors under 16.
Indonesia’s neighbour Malaysia introduced in November that it could additionally ban social media for customers under the age of 16 ranging from 2026.
Meutya Hafid, Indonesia’s Communications and Digital Minister, mentioned in a video assertion that the federal government will “delay access” to social media accounts for children under 16 by way of a ministerial regulation issued on Friday.
Beginning March 28, accounts owned by children under 16 on “excessive threat platforms” will likely be steadily deactivated, Meutya mentioned, including the platforms embody TikTok, Fb, Instagram, and Roblox.
“The method will likely be performed steadily till all platforms carry out their obligations,” she mentioned, with out elaborating on what they want to do to meet the brand new necessities.
“We realise this may increasingly trigger discomfort to start with. Children could complain and oldsters could also be confused coping with their complaints.”
“Our children are going through dangers, from porn, cyberbullying, on-line fraud to most significantly, habit,” she mentioned, including Indonesia would be the first non-Western nation to impose such restrictions.
TikTok, Meta, which owns Fb and Instagram, and Roblox didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The main points of the brand new regulation have but to be revealed. Ministry officers didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Web penetration in Indonesia, a rustic of about 280 million folks, reached 79.5% in 2024, in accordance to a survey of 8,700 folks by the Indonesia web service suppliers’ affiliation.
The survey confirmed 48% of children under 12 had access to the web, with some respondents of that age group utilizing Fb, Instagram, and TikTok. The survey confirmed web penetration stood at 87% amongst “Gen Z” customers aged 12 to 27.
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Enhancing by David Stanway)
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